Rambling On

I'm in Osaka this morning, in a McDonalds, on my way back to Nara prefecture to get the last of my things from my Kashihara apartment. The trains are sparsely crowded to-day though many of the people I see have suitcases. I guess Golden Week is starting for everyone, though I only get one day off for it next week and two days the following week. Golden Week is Japan's version of spring break but it consists of a series of holidays that just happen to occur within the same spread of seven days. I guess it's not a very lucky Golden Week this year because two of the days happen to fall on the weekend.

I'm carrying empty bags and a suitcase which I plan to fill with the things still in my apartment. For a book to read on the train, I brought along Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, which I'm still struggling to finish since buying it around two years ago. I feel guilty not finishing a book, no matter how much I hate it. I'm about halfway through it, maybe I can make a big push on it this weekend. I'll be on the train for a long time.

It's a fantasy novel, the story of a group of misfits executing a heist. What bothers me about it is that it's supposed to be a group of people who've known hard times; slavery, prostitution, extreme poverty, and prison. But they all come off as spoiled rich kids. They live in a world with minimal pain and lots of amenities. But maybe I'm just a grouch. When I was in elementary school, I had a lower threshold for fiction with realism and credible ugliness. Maybe I just need to think younger.